More threads by Kurt Steinbrueck

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Hey Everyone,

I'm having trouble with reviews going missing or never appearing for some clients. Does anyone have a contact at Google (GMB) I could reach out to? I've tried the normal support routes and am not getting anywhere.

Also, if these reviews are getting filtered, does anyone have a system that makes sure reviews don't get filtered? I know the normal stuff, the review shouldn't be abusive or posted from the business IP, etc. Are there certain things to avoid saying or some other tips we can give people who want to post a review?

To give you an idea of the history, I had one client contact me last month saying he had received 2 reviews which were missing. He had received a notification for one, but not the other. The pictures the reviewers posted were still on his GMB listing, but no review. All my efforts with Google just led to canned response over and over that they automatically filter some reviews for spam/abuse violations, which didn't fit either review.

Then last week I heard from another client who got a new review. They got an email from the reviewer letting them know they had posted it, but no notification and nothing was on their listing. I contacted the person who posted the review to doublecheck they had posted it. They said couldn't find it so assumed they must have messed up. So, they posted it again and double checked to make sure it posted and sent a screenshot, but when I check the listing and the GMB admin for the listing, there's nothing. There was also no notification email sent indicating their had been a review posted.

I encourage clients to try to get legitimate reviews from happy customers, but they get very frustrated when they do and then those reviews are removed or don't ever show up.

I'm at a loss at this point and can't find a contact in Google who will give me more than the canned responses.

I'd love it if someone could put me in touch with someone at Google who could actually help.

Thanks!
Kurt
 
No, I can't view it either. The GMB forum software can be really stupid about filtering posts. It might show up tomorrow.
 
Here you go...

This is regarding the listing for Grand Vista Pools (Grand Vista Pools · 1722 Pink Guara Ct, Trinity, FL 34655

)

We have had 2 reviews which were posted by customers that have now disappeared. There was nothing inappropriate about the reviews. We would like the reviews put back on our listing. One review was from John posted Thu, Jun 24, 2021 at 10:34 AM. He also posted photos which are still showing on the listing, but his review has disappeared. The second review was from Cindy posted around Tue, Jul 20, 2021 at 3:10 PM. She said she posted a review with a photo. The photo is still on the listing, but the review has disappeared. I can provide last names as well if that's helpful.

Here's the link to Cindy's photo (she posted 1 photo and a review): Update your browser to use Google My Business - Google My Business Help

Here's the link to one of John's photos (he posted 4 photos and a review):
Update your browser to use Google My Business - Google My Business Help

We still have the notification email for John's review, but not for Cindy's review. The link from the notification email to view John's review is this: Update your browser to use Google My Business - Google My Business Help

Now, on September 17, we received a notice from another customer, Christy, that she posted a review. She can see the review when she visits our listing (and sent us a screenshot of it), but we can't see it either on the listing or in our GMB admin. This is a little different situation from the reviews mentioned above, but is still a review which doesn't appear to be included on our listing. Very confusing.

Pool design/construction doesn't have a ton of customers so it's very important for us when we do get reviews. So, we would like to have these two customers' reviews put back on the Grand Vista Pools listing.

Thank you.
 
That sounds like you might have a chance in Google restoring them. I have to wait until the thread actually shows up though before I can escalate it.
 
Hi Joy and DJBaxter,

It's been a few days. Are you able to access the post?

Also, Joy, have you heard anything back from Google about whether private schools are able to have reviews?

Thanks!!

Kurt
 
Hmmm. It seems strange to me that the one post has been visible to you all pretty much from when I posted it and the other, both times I posted it, isn't. I wonder if there's something in the post that is tripping a filter or something.

So, I've gone ahead and created a third post for Grand Vista. This time, I made it very simple with no details just to see if you all will be able to access it. If you are, I can add details later. Here's the post. Please let me know if you can view it.

Three Customer Reviews Lost - Google My Business Community

Thanks.
Kurt
 
I am not sure the best place to post this, I figure this thread might be it.

Yesterday I received a review from a person who told me she was going to leave a review around two months ago. The review says October 4, so I wasn’t sure if she never got around to leaving until yesterday.

Then just now I received a review from someone that I worked for around three months ago and he told me at the time he was going to leave a review. His review says October 5.

In both cases I received an email now, not back then.

This isn’t just a coincidence, this is Google finally posting the reviews that were left in the past.

Now here’s a completely different story that I happened upon today. For about one year I have been reporting the same listing for using a full paragraph of spammy keywords in the title. I have suggested an edit at least a dozen times, but he always changes a back. I submitted a redressal form a few times but they never remove the listing. Today I noticed that the 4 reviews the listing has had for the last year are now gone.

Crazy time for reviews.
 
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Hi Joy,

Thanks for continuing to pursue this for so long. I'm glad we have an answer, though not too happy about what that answer is.

Just to clarify, it doesn't matter to them whether the school is public or private? No school can get reviews on Google?

Thanks.
Kurt
 
Hi Joy, there's a lot of confusion around this. And I'm hoping you can provide clarity. The answer "Schools in the USA cannot get reviews and it's been this way since 2019." is far too simple and it's incorrect.

We manage the following types of schools Massage Schools, Trade Schools, Preparatory Schools & Private Schools. Reviews are currently displaying on both Knowledge Panel & Maps for all categories - except when they are not. I'm seeing lots of reviews from last month and in 2021 in general - for our clients competitors mainly.

I'm not seeing new reviews (since 2019) for some High & elementary schools, but there are some recent ones for UC Berkeley. Every time I research this - I'm more confused.

Massage Schools & Trade Schools seem to be unaffected.

Then there are other categories that may apply to our clients such as Technical School, Technical University, training school, Nursing school, vocational school, vocational college...

Which school categories are affected? Is this bug still in effect? I have so many questions.
Thanks!

Screen Shot 2021-11-30 at 10.41.03 AM.png
 
Hey Jeffrey,

I sent Google a few examples last month of schools that got reviews and they informed me that there was an issue and they fixed it. So schools should not be able to get reviews - that part is working as intended and isn't a bug.

I don't have a list of what categories are affected but it appears to be anything related to schools - if you have any of those categories on your listing, you can't get reviews since 2019. This isn't the case for every country, but is for the USA.
 
And here we go again!

Google just removed one of the reviews for the pool contractor again. One of the same reviews we just got put back a month ago. Ugh.
 
Hey Everyone, I wanted to give one more update about the school reviews.

Just to be sure, we did an experiment. We changed the category of the school to just private school (removing high school, middle school, etc.) and had a parent post a review to Google where we were able to verify she did it correctly.

She didn't encounter any problem when posting the review, no errors or indication the review wouldn't be posted, but the review is not visible (publicly or to the parent who posted the review) and we did not receive any notification in the admin.

-Kurt
 
Kurt,

Thanks for sharing. That matches the behavior I've seen for other schools as well.
 

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